BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday fired back at US president-elect Donald Trump’s denunciation of her liberal stance on refugees and his dismissal of the Nato military alliance as”obsolete.” “I think we Europeans hold our destiny in our own hands,” she said.
“We know what his position is,” Merkel said in response to Trump’s blasting her refugee policy as a “catastrophic mistake.” “My position is also known,” she added.
In a wide-ranging interview with Germany’s Bild tabloid and the Times of London released on Sunday, Trump also threatened to impose a hefty tax on German carmakers for selling vehicles in the US market that were produced elsewhere. The president-elect, who will be sworn into office on Friday, also warned that other nations would follow Britain in deciding to leave the European Union. Merkel defended the bloc at her press conference in Berlin.
“We 27 members should stand together,” she said, arguing that Europe’s economic strength and decision-making structures would help it tackle tough problems such as terrorism.
Merkel had read Trump’s newspaper interview with interest, her spokesman Steffen Seibert earlier said, noting that the president-elect had his made views clearly.
This also included the 70-year-old New York real estate billionair eexpressing his respect for Merkel and describing her as Europe’s most important leader.
“Personally, I am waiting for the inauguration of the American president,” Merkel said.
Seibert said she planned “to work closely with the new administration” despite Trump’s attack on her decision in September 2015 to allow about 900,000 refugees stranded in Hungary to travel to Germany. The German constitution also calls on the country to provide refuge for those escaping persecution. — dpa
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